Liquid beat FURIA to qualify for BLAST Bounty S2 Finals

Team Liquid punched their ticket to the BLAST Bounty Season 2 LAN Finals in Malta, defeating FURIA 2–1 in the Stage-2 round of 16. After a sluggish start on their own pick of Mirage (4–13), Liquid rallied to win Train (13–6) and Dust2 (13–7) to close the series. 

Storylines and key numbers

• This was Liquid’s first meeting with YEKINDAR since the Latvian rifler left the roster and later signed for FURIA following an initial stand-in stint.

• The veto underscored BLAST Bounty’s draft dynamic: Liquid (seed #14) actively selected FURIA (seed #8) as their opponent. Decider was Dust2 after Overpass/Ancient/Nuke/Inferno bans. 

• Match leaders (HLTV stats): Twistzz posted the best rating (1.20), ultimate logged the most AWP kills (15), NertZ led opening frags (13), while KSCERATO topped damage (89.6 ADR) and YEKINDAR finished with the most kills (44) for FURIA.

How Liquid got here

Liquid’s online run began with a chaotic opener versus ECSTATIC, where they survived a quintuple-overtime Train (28–26) before closing Ancient 13–9—a result HLTV framed as a morale boost after a rough start to the season. 

What’s next: Malta Finals & format

The LAN Finals run August 14–17 in Malta, featuring eight teams in a single-elimination BO3 bracket with a BO5 grand final and $500,000 in prize money. BLAST Bounty’s signature twist lets lower seeds draft opponents and earn cash “bounties” for upsets. 

Liquid join the Finals field alongside teams already locked in via Stage-2: Astralis, Virtus.pro, Spirit, TheMongolZ, and MOUZ (with the last spot to be decided). 

Here’s the expanded section with a map-pool outlook and player-to-watch notes for Liquid heading into Malta.

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Map-pool outlook for Malta

Liquid’s qualification win over FURIA showed resilience and flexibility, but also exposed clear strengths and weaknesses in their current pool:

Strengths:

• Train – Liquid’s CT side spacing and proactive ladder control shut FURIA out, ending 13–6. They’ve also proven on Train in Stage-1 vs ECSTATIC (28–26 marathon win).

• Dust2 – Twistzz and ultimate’s mid control and late-round A executions worked consistently against FURIA’s double-AWP setups.

Needs improvement:

• Mirage – Liquid’s own pick against FURIA, but a 4–13 loss on T-side due to poor early-round success (just 1 opening duel won in first 10 rounds).

• Ancient – Though they beat ECSTATIC here, Liquid’s site retakes looked shaky compared to top LAN opponents.

With Malta’s stacked field—including Astralis, MOUZ, and TheMongolZ, all comfortable on Ancient—Liquid will likely need to patch this map or lean on permaban.

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Player to watch: Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken

• Form: 1.20 rating vs FURIA, anchoring Train and Dust2.

• Role impact: Often the stabilizing presence in mid-rounds, Twistzz’s ability to clutch (1vX) and multi-frag in holds is critical to Liquid’s CT half success.

• LAN pedigree: Proven performer at majors and high-pressure playoffs, Twistzz is expected to be Liquid’s go-to in Malta’s elimination bracket.